American businessman Chris Kirchner is closing in on his takeover of Preston North End – and it’s believe the deal will cost around £40million.
That’s according to a report from The Sun (13/03, p60) who claim that Kirchner is ‘close’ to finalising his deal to purchase Preston.
It’s stated that Kirchner has been desperate to take over a football club for months now and has progressed ‘quickly’ in his attempts to buy North End.
The fee involved for the takeover is thought to be £40million – more than two years since reports emerged that North End were up for sale for £50million.
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It seems that Kirchner has been able to show the funds needed to finalise such a deal and the Hemmings family should sell up very soon.
Kirchner was interested in purchasing Derby County earlier this season but pulled out of the race back in December before recently focusing on Preston.
It’s stated that Derby’s administrators Quantuma are expecting a deal worth around £50million for the Rams, with that Preston price coming a little cheaper.
Kirchner is the CEO and co-founder of US logistics company slync.io, enjoying great success at the age of just 34.
Kirchner has dipped into sports before, sponsoring National Hockey League side Dallas Stars whilst working with a number of golfers including Justin Rose.
This will be something much, much bigger for Kirchner though, who will have ex-Manchester City chief Garry Cook and Wayne Rooney’s former agent Paul Stretford on board with him.
The report does also note that boss Ryan Lowe has impressed Kirchner and looks set to keep his job despite the imminent change of ownership.
We have written previously that Lowe must be kept by Kirchner – both because of his quality as a manager and just to get off to a good start with Preston fans.
It looks like Preston are set for a new era in the coming months, with a huge summer transfer window on the horizon.